A Place to Call Home
by yourface
Summary: Five year old Harry accidentally goes back in time to 1965. Harry meets and is adopted by the Potters.
1. Chapter 1

Sorry if this deceived you as if I already updated my story but I figured that since my chapters are so short that I would combine them to just make them one long one. Cuz when I read stories i really like the long ones that take me days to finish and I dont like when the chapters are short so I combined all mine to make something that I like. Sorry if you disagree but thats they way its gonna be from now on. Ill try to make them as long as possible :)

so disclaimer: I dont own Harry Potter, hes all Rowling's

* * *

Five year old Harry sat playing in the sandbox at school. It was lunch time, but he didn't have anything to eat as Dudley had taken and eaten all his food before they even left the house. Dudley's treatment of Harry had been similar to this all through the year, so Harry was prepared for it. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Harry put his hand in his pocket and took out a bruised, green apple.

As he bit into it, satisfying the hunger pains in his stomach, he relaxed and leaned against the inside of the slide. He wasn't supposed to be sitting there. All the children in kindergarten were supposed to sit at the lunch tables until everyone was finished eating. Harry had sneaked over to the slide while the playground teachers were looking the other way. He didn't want the other children to tease him again over not having a lunch. He received enough ridicule at home from Dudley.

Just as he was finishing the apple he had stolen from his aunt that morning, he heard the sound of footsteps coming to the top of the slide. All the children were done eating. Harry slid down the slide to avoid being crushed by the masses of children hurriedly sliding down the slide. When he reached the bottom, there stood Dudley with his friends by his side.

Harry took off running. He knew what they were going to do to him. They would wrestle him to the ground, kick him a few times; then when they got too winded, being the huge tubs of lard that they are, they would pick him up and throw him in the dumpster. At which point he would have to wait until the janitors took out the trash at the end of lunch to let him out, making him late for class for the hundredth time.

So this time he ran. He ran towards the school buildings to his classroom. But as he was rounding the corner to the classroom, Dudley and his crew caught up to him. They threw him to the ground just as he knew they would, and proceeded to kick and throw him in the dumpster.

As he sat there he wished he were somewhere else. He wished he had somewhere to call home. He wished he still had a mother and a father who loved him and cherished him. He wished there was someone in this world who would take care of him instead of not feeding him and stuffing him in a cupboard under the stairs.

Harry closed his eyes and sighed. It wouldn't be until another twenty minutes that he would be let out of this dumpster. A lone tear escaped his eye as he sat there wishing for someone to take him away from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.

Just as he opened his eyes, something fell next to him. It shined gold, even though it was pitch dark in the dumpster. Curious, Harry slowly picked up the object. It had a long gold chain and a pendant hanging on it. The pendant was shaped in an hourglass and had a bit of sand in it that seemed to sparkle. On the top of the hourglass where it hung on the chain, there was a little knob.

Wondering what it did, Harry began twisting it. When nothing happened, he grew disappointed. He put the strange necklace around his neck and began to twist it some more, closed his eyes again, and began waiting for the janitor to come open the dumpster for him.

_I hope it's Bob,_ he thought anxiously, _Helga always gets mad at me for being in here. She thinks I do it on purpose. Like I want to be in here._

Slowly the hourglass in his hands began to glow brighter and brighter as Harry twisted the knob on the top. Lazily he opened his eyes and was surprised to find that he could see around him. Confused he looked down at his hands.

_Uh oh,_ he thought frantically. _What is going on_?

But it was too late. The light from the hourglass had been steadily growing brighter until Harry had to close his eyes. There was one more flash of light and then nothing.

Harry tentatively opened his eyes. What he saw surprised him to say the least. He was sitting on a massive grass field with a very large house sitting in front of him. It was brown with white shutter windows spread about through the three floors. there was a wide porch with a white wood railing going around the whole house.

Harry immediately loved it. He wished he could live there with his parents.

He watched as two boys with black hair ran out of the house and to the swing set that was to his left about two hundred yards away. He ran behind a tree and watched them. He wondered if they would want to play with him. But as he watched there seemed to be something off about the swing set. The boys seemed to be able to go unusually high in their swings. Harry wondered if it was some super special swing set that his school couldn't afford. He had never seen anything like it.

The two young boys soon stopped swinging on the set and started a game of tag. They ran around the grass yelling and laughing at each other. But as they got close to the place where Harry was hiding, one of them saw him.

"Hey," he yelled." What are you doing in my backyard? I don't know who you are."

"My name's Harry," he said quietly, though he must have heard him because the boy replied, "Why are you here in my backyard? I didn't know anyone besides Sirius here was coming to my house." he gestured to the boy beside him. They looked at him with curious expressions on their faces.

"I don't know why I'm here. I was at my school and then I found this necklace and it started glowing. Then I opened my eyes and I was here." Harry blurted out. He really was starting to get scared that something bad had happened.

They stared at him for a minute, then at each other, then back at Harry. The boy named Sirius lunged forward, grabbed his hand and started dragging him to wards the house. "Well you should come talk to James's mum. She's the best. She'll get everything sorted out for you."

* * *

A loud bang caught her attention just as she was settling down to drink her tea and read the Daily Prophet. She jumped up in alarm, but to her relief, the noise had been brought by James and Sirius storming through the back door.

"Now boys, how many times have I told you not to slam the doors in the house?" she asked wearily.

"But mum, this is important! We have someone to meet you. His name is Harry," James shouted in excitement.

Diane turned around to see the two boys walking through the kitchen door, another trailing slightly behind. He looked eerily similar to James, but Diane had never seen him before. She knew that her husbands siblings did not have any children, and her sister had a daughter, so he couldn't be part of their family.

'Where did he come from?' she wondered curiously.

"Mrs. Potter? Harry said that he was in a dumpster, whatever that is anyway, and then he found this thing, its around around his neck now, it had sand in it and it was glowing and there flash of light and then he was in your backyard," Sirius rushed out in typical five year old manner. He turned to James and continued, "Do you think that necklace thing is magic, Jamie? I do. It's so sparkly and shiny. How could it not be magic?"

"Of course it's magic, Siri. Everything is magic," James replied.

Diane turned to Harry and said,"Well Harry, it would seem that your necklace there really is magic. May is see it for a moment?"

Harry hesitantly took off the necklace. He stared at it for a moment, then put it into her outstretched hand.

"Thank-you Harry."

Diane looked at it. She had never seen anything like it before. But the way that Sirius described how Harry got there certainly sounded as if he had sent himself back in time. She only hoped it wasn't too far to be able to return him.

She gave the necklace back to Harry and said, "You keep this Harry. You might need it again someday. But for now why don't you go play outside with James and Sirius while we wait for James's father to return from work. It will only be a couple hours, but I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with them."

"C'mon Harry. You can play tag with us!" James and Sirius grabbed his hands and pulled him outside to wards the swing set.

It wasn't until the cold September wind swept across his forehead and revealed his scar, that James and Sirius saw it.

"Say Harry, what's that scar on your head from?" asked James when the three of them reached the swing set.

Harry looked down at his hands. He hated when people asked him this question. Usually he would make something up to avoid telling them the truth about his parents. But James and Sirius were looking at him so kindly and curiously, as if they genuinely wanted to know just for the sake of knowing. Everyone else that asked just wanted to tease him after he told them. James and Sirius didn't look like they wanted to make fun of him.

So Harry took a deep breath and said softly, "It's from when my parents died. I was only one. They got in a car accident."

Sirius took a step closer to Harry and lifted up his bangs. He stared at Harry's scar for a few seconds and then made a noise in the back of his throat and said, "Well I think it's wicked, Harry. It's in the shape of a lighting bolt. I wish I had a cool scar like yours."

Harry smiled. No one had ever said that they like his scar before. He had always liked it, but was ashamed because so many people made fun of him for it.

Sirius continued, "But I'm sorry for you're parents Harry. My parents aren't around anymore either. They disowned me last year. I live with James here now. Maybe you could live with the Potter's too. D'you think your mum and dad would let him James?"

"Yea why not? We should ask them when my dad gets home from his job at the Ministry. He's the head of the Auror department you know," James bragged.

Harry stared at him_. What was the Auror Department_, he wondered_. And what was it they were talking about in the kitchen earlier? Magic wasn't real. His aunt told him so just a few days ago. Or maybe it was? That would explain why the necklace thing glowed and sent him to James's backyard and why his mum had looked at the necklace so strangely. And he definitely wouldn't mind living with James and Sirius. They seemed so fun. And they actually liked me! His mum was really nice to. Maybe if my mum had lived she would have been like Mrs. Potter._

He finally found friends, and maybe a place to call home that wasn't with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.

* * *

When James, Sirius, and Harry started to play tag, Harry was enjoying himself immensely. In the few times that he had played tag at school with the other kids before he was chased off by Dudley, it had been his favorite game. James and Sirius made it all the better because they would take turns being it; whereas the children at his school would always tag Harry to make him it.

Pretty soon though, they began to run out of breath and needed to take a break on the swings. They each sat on one of the swings and began to push themselves back and forth, trying to get higher than the others.

"You ready Siri?" shouted James when they couldn't get any higher.

"Ready Jamie!" shouted Sirius in response. "On three!"

Together they began to shout, "1...2..3!"

And before Harry could say anything, they jumped off their swings at the highest point. to Harry's amazement and shock, they did not plummet to the ground, at which point they would have received several broken bones, shed gallons of tears and had a very long trip to the hospital. But what they did do, however, was lean back, fold their arms behind their heads, and gently drift safely down to the ground. When they landed they looked up at Harry and yelled, "C'mon, Harry! It's your turn!"

But he just stared at them in amazement. Out of habit he was consistently pushing himself back and forth in the swing, still staring at James and Sirius.

_How did they do that? I knew there was something strange about this swing set. It's magic! But will I get in trouble if I jump off like they did? Maybe I won't float down like they did. Maybe I'll just fall_, Harry thought frantically.

He looked at them again and said, "But what if I fall? I don't know if I can do what you did!"

James responded, "Harry it's okay. The swing set is magic! It has a charm on it so no one can get hurt, so if you jump off you'll just float down. I promise. Here, me and Siri will do it with you."

With that they both ran to wards the swings and began to push themselves so they could get to the height Harry was at.

When they reached the highest point, James turned to Harry and said, "Are you ready, Harry? I promise you won't get hurt. Trust me okay? We're friends. I'll protect you."

"Yea, Harry. We wouldn't make you do anything that will hurt you. You're our friend. Trust us." said Sirius.

Harry looked at them. He had never heard anyone say anything like that to him before. He felt an inexplicable love and trust for the boys right then. He didn't know why, but it just felt perfectly natural to him to trust the other boys old with everything.

"Okay guys," Harry answered.

"On the count of three then. You count it off, Harry!" James called to him.

Nervously Harry began to count. It was so exciting, yet scary at the same time. But he trusted James that he wouldn't get hurt. So he began to call off the numbers more confidently. "1...2...3!"

They did it. Harry, James, and Sirius were drifting down to the ground. When they reached the ground, Harry ran to James and Sirius and hugged them. He was so glad to have friends that would have fun with him. He wanted to always be with James and Sirius. They would be his friends and brothers always.

"I'm glad that I trusted you guys." said Harry with a huge grin on his face when they were done hugging.

"Well we're glad you did. Right Jamie?" Sirius replied cheerily.

"We sure are Siri." James said with an air of extreme confidence. He then continued, "So Harry, if you might live with me and Siri, you're gonna need a nickname. We can't just call you Harry all the time. We gotta have some sort of secret code names for each other. Mine is Prongs and Sirius's is Padfoot. We made them up all by ourselves by using our favorite animals. Mine is an elk, and Sirius's is a German Wolfhou-"

"No Jamie, it's Irish Wolfhound." Sirius cut him off. "You never get it right."

"Sorry, Siri," James said, not sounding sincere. To this, Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Anyway Harry, what's your favorite animal? We need to make you a nickname." James said, turning quites serious for a five year old.

"Its a falcon." Harry said, wondering what kind of nickname they could get out of that.

They sat down to think for a moment. Every minute or so one of them would suggest something completely ridiculous, at which point they would all break out in typical five year old giggles. They cycle of seriousness turning to giggles last for about a half hour until Sirius stood up.

He looked down at them both sitting on the rocks by the swing set and said, "Boys, I have it. I have Harry's nickname right here in my noggin." he pointed to his head, making James and Harry start to laugh hysterically.

"You guys! Stop it! This is serious," shouted Sirius, angry at being ignored.

Then Harry burst out, "No, you're Sirius!!" (A/N: I had to do it. I know its cliche but c'mon everyone has it somewhere in their story. )

Even Sirius laughed at this one. It was completely silly, yet all three loved that joke.

"Buy okay guys, we need to calm down. Let's get down to business. So Sirius, what do you have for us?" Said James when the three of them calmed down enough to be able to talk.

"I have here, the nickname of all nicknames, well, besides Jamie's and mine's, but this one is just as good as ours." He walked up to Harry made him stand in front of James and said," James, I give you, the new and improved Harry, a.k.a, Falco."

James seemed to ponder this for a moment. He looked at Harry then back at Sirius, and then back and forth for a minuted or two. Finally, he stood up and said, "Good thinking Padfoot. Falco is perfect for Harry. What do you think Harry? Do you mind if we call you Falco?"

"No not at all. I love it." Harry said with a silly grin on his face.

They continued to sit on the rocks and began to talk about silly things that only five year old boys would understand.

Oh! how Harry wanted to stay there; he only hoped James's parents liked him enough to let him.

* * *

Thomas Potter walked through the front door of his family's ancestral home. He loved his family dearly and little Sirius being added to the mix just made things better. As the thoughts of the two little mischevious boys ran through his head, they also came running to him out of the kitchen. They quickly latched onto him by sitting on his feet and wrapping their gangly arms around his legs, thus forcing Thomas to walk them all the way to the dining room where dinner was to take place.

"Hey babe, I'm back but it seems I have some strange kind of growth on my legs that look strangely like James and Sirius. Wouldn't you say that was odd?" Thomas asked as he stumbled into the kitchen.

"Why, yes my dear, they are scarily similar to our little boys. Oh but where could they actually be, for they are not sitting at the table with their new friend Harry?" Diane asked, all the while staring at the little boys giggling into their hands.

"We're right here!" they shouted simultaneously.

"Oh so that it you! Well then go and get Harry and introduce him to your father boys." Diane said in reply with a big grin on her face.

Thomas looked at the small child sitting at their dining table. He had black, terribly messy hair, vibrant green eyes, and red lips that he had only ever seen on one person, his wife. Already he was wary of the boy that James and Sirius were apparently good friends with. He watched at they ran over to him and pulled Harry out of his chair.

"C'mon Harry! Come meet my dad!" James said " He'll love you, promise." he whispered to Harry though everyone heard.

_I'll love him? Why would I need to love him? _Thomas thought as Sirius pushed Harry towards him. "Hello my boy. How are you?"

The boy put his chin down and mumbled in reply, "Fine, sir. How are you?"

Thomas stooped down to Harry's eye level and put his finger under Harry's chin and gently lifted it up. He said, "I'm well, thank-you. Now tell me, how did you come to know our two little naughty boys?"

"W-Well, sir, at my school, my cousin put me in a dumpster and then this necklace thing fell down next to me. I turned the knob and the next thing I new I was in your back yard where James and Sirius saw me," Harry replied as he took the necklace out from under his shirt, pulled it up over his head and handed it to Mr. Potter.

Thomas took what he suspected was a time turner from the little boy. He had come across things like this happening during his time at the Ministry. Sometimes, to those who truly deserved it, Fate would grant a wish to a person and supply the means to them to get what they wanted. It became clear to him that Fate sent Harry the time turned in order to grant his wish. _Well,_ he thought, _Fate must really want him here. Who am I to interfere with something like that? _

"Well, my boy it seems that you'll just have to stay with us and help me and Diane manage our little monsters. Would you like that Harry? Would you like to stay and let us adopt you?" he asked the child.

Harry smiled and said, "Yes, I would love to live here."

James and Sirius cheered and said together, "See Harry! Told you he would love you!"

Thomas stepped forward and hugged Harry. "Thank you Harry. Now we just have to get the paper work signed at the Ministry which shouldn't be too hard, now that we have your consent. Now, why don't we all sit back down at the table and have our first family dinner together." he stood back up and ushered Harry back into the living room where their food was waiting for them, having been served by Diane a few minutes before he had come home.

When everyone was stuffed full of the delicious meal, James asked, "So how actually did Harry get to be in our back yard Dad?"

"I don't actually know James. Magic has a way of doing unexpected things at unexpected times, escpecially when Fate and Magic work together on something. What I think happened though, was that Fate sent Harry the necklace and it sent him back in time to live with us and be happy. You are a lucky boy indeed, Harry, for Fate to grant your wish. " Thomas replied.

"So there is such a thing as magic then?" Harry asked curiously. He had always been a curious little boy. Always asking questions, though he would get punished by his aunt and uncle.

"There is, Harry. And you have the power to weild it, just like I do, and my wife, and James and Sirius do. You are a wizard. " Thomas said with a smile.

"Do you think my mum and dad were wizards too?" He asked hopefully. He hoped there was more to his parent than just what his relatives had said about them. Maybe they had been special like he was.

"I don't know Harry. There's no way for me to find out. But the chances that they were are much higher than them being muggles, person that doesn't have magic." Mr. Potter said, rather interested. He had noted that the boy looked very similiar to himself and James, save for his lips, which he also noticed were the same shape and color of his wife's, and his startling green eyes. He wondered how far in the future he had come, but he doubted the boy knew. When he himslef had been five, he didn't know what the Ministers name was, never mind the year. However he did have to wonder if he was the boy's grandfather or great-grandfather in some way. _Oh well, it's of no use wondering about it now, he's here with us. It's not like we can send him back to where he was. He's my son now. _


	2. Chapter 2

Since this is my first story i have just begun to understand the dedication that people have to their stories and such. i mean seriously with all the stories that are AMAZING that I've read (and believe me I've read a lot) like Celebony's Recnac Transfaerso and its numerous sequels and one-shots or KystalRoze's Harry Potter and the Slytherin Connection and its sequels (i highly recommend both of them. they're some of the best Ive ever read, props to them) It makes me appreciate all the talented writes out there who publish their fanifiction on this website. Both of these stores have such good plot line consistencies and both authors get the characters down pat, especially the Harry/Ron/ Hermione best friend relationship. It's amazing. I only hope to gain a fraction of their writing skill as I play with Rowling's characters. :) So on to my story. SO sorry for the long wait if any of you were waiting in agony for me to update. :/

aptch chapter 2

After dinner, Thomas and Diane lead the children up to James's and Sirius's bed rooms, and what would be Harry's in a few day's time. Harry sat on his new bed and sighed after Diane had left to get a pair of James's pajamas for him.

_I wonder if I can call them Mum and Dad now? Do they want me to? I hope so. Or maybe I can just call them by their names._

In a state of distress over what he believed to be a very serious situation, Harry voiced his concern to Thomas. "Umm...Sir?...Mr. Potter? What am I supposed to call you now?"

Thomas chuckled for a second before answering. "Harry you know what it means to be adopted, don't you?"

When he saw Harry shake his head no, he continued, "Well, it means you are going to be part of our family now. So James and Sirius will be your brothers, just like James became Sirius's brother when we adopted him last year. That means my boy, that I will be your new Father and Diane will be your new Mother. So no more sir or Mr. Potter, alright Harry? You may only call me Dad and Diane, Mum, OK?"

Harry's stomach flip flopped and his heart soared when Thomas said this. "OK...Dad."

Both felt silly grins sneak on their faces. Just then Diane walked in with Harry's pajamas. When she saw the looks on their faces, she smiled and said, "What has gotten into you two? Planning some nasty prank to play on me?"

"Why of course not, my dear. Harry here and I were just discussing what it really means to be adopted. He didn't know what to call us."

"But now I do. You're my new Mummy, and he's my new Daddy. And that's what I'm calling you forever!" Harry cried out in his excitement of having an actual family that wanted him.

"Well of course you'll call us that! What else would we let you call us by? Diane and Thomas? How silly would that be?" she exclaimed with a smile. "Now, silly boy, you need to get into your new pajamas and go to sleep. Little boys need lots of sleep. Especially the little boys living in my house, considering all the mischief they get into during the day."

"OK, Mum." Harry took the pajamas from her and hesitantly went to give her a hug. When she saw what he was trying to do, she took the next step and picked him up and give him the best hug he ever had. She held him for a while while Harry just rested his head of her shoulder for a bit. _So this is what it feels like to have a mum. I want to keep her forever. She's so nice and fun and pretty. I wonder if my real mum was like her. Oh, well I have one now and she'll be the best ever._

The two of them stayed like that simply enjoying the presence of the other and how good it felt to embrace each other: A mother, ecstatic at having a new child, and a boy glowing with happiness at having a mother. Diane swayed back and forth like she did when trying to calm James down when they were younger. When it was time for Harry to go to sleep, Diane laid him down on the bed. She hadn't noticed that he had dozed off until she went to change his clothes. He opened his ayes and looked at her

"What are you doing Mummy?"

She smiled at his question and started to put the pajamas on him.

"Well you can't very well sleep in your clothes now can you?"

He giggled at her response and said. "I guess so Mummy."

She finished dressing him for bed and picked him up again so she could pull back the blankets and tuck him in. After tucking him in, she leaned over to kiss his forehead. She smiled at her new son. "Sweet dreams, my child. I'll see you in the morning."

"G'night Mummy," Harry replied through a yawn.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Harry and Diane, Thomas had creeped out of the room when Diane started to rock Harry. He loved that they were bonding so quickly, so he left to give them some mother and son time alone.

Thomas walked down the hall to James and Sirius's rooms and made sure they were actually getting ready for bed instead of planning something naughty as they had been known to do in the past.

He opened James's door only to find that he was missing from his bedroom. Already knowing where he was he opened the door across from it and found both of the little boys sitting on the floor, heatedly discussing something that was written on a ratty old piece of parchment.

"Now boys, what have your mother and I said about getting ready for bed?" Thomas asked as he walked into the room.

They hastily shoved the parchment out of sight and replied that they were not to create any sort of prank or mischief after their parents declared it bedtime.

"And so what was that parchment you just shoved under the bed?"

The boys looked at each other and then back at Thomas. "Nothing," they replied in unison.

"So when you and I leave this room James, you won't come sneaking back in here to talk about whatever you're talking about?" Thomas raised his eyebrow at the boys as Sirius replied.

"Don't be ridiculous Dad. I'm going straight to sleep right now, of course." And with that Sirius got up and gave Thomas a big hug, and then climbed into bed.

Thomas and James laughed at Sirius's antics and the bid him goodnight.

They both walked back into James's room where James said, "This has been an exciting day huh Dad? With Harry and all?"

Thomas smiled and said, "Why yes it has, my boy. A very exciting day indeed. Are you happy to have another brother?"

"Oh yes, of course. Us three are already the best of friends. Me and Siri already went on the swing set with Harry and taught him how to jump off it and float down with magic!" James said excitedly while jumping up and down on his bed.

"Well them I'm glad that you munch kins already love each other." Thomas leaned over and kissed James on the forehead and bid him good night as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it's late, but hers the next chapter people :) Thanks for all your reviews and everything. BTW: dont own Harry Potter. He belongs to JK Rowling :(

Chapter Three.....

Back in 1985

Albus Dumbledore smiled as he looked at the dial that showed young Harry Potter had suddenly gone missing. Of course it was worrying, but when one considers the fact that Albus knew exactly where he was, they understood the benign smile.

* * *

As little Ginny Weasleysat at her family's kitchen table, she stared in hate at all six of her brothers. They never let her play withthem. She hated it when they took her toys and left her at home when they went to go play in the field. It wasn't fair! Instead she had to sit at home withMum and play dolls with her. Bleh. 'That isn't fun at all.' she thought to herself. 'I want to go play tag withthem and go swimming in the pond. I'm not that little. I could do it too, if they would just let me. I want brothers who I can play with. These ones stink.'

So, after finishing her breakfast, Ginny ran outside before anyone could stop her and sat under her favorite tree. Its long branches covered her from view from her brothers so they couldn't pick on her.

She sat there pondering her brothers and how much she wished she had different brothers. As she wished and wished, she noticed that something had fallen into her lap. 'Ooohhh pretty,' her four year old mind claimed. She picked it up and began examining the shiny sand that trickled around inside it. She turned the little nob on the side and saw that as she did the sand got shinier ans shiner. Excited at her new toy her brothers had never played with, she put the golden chain around her neck and began to play some more. But as she did, it began to glow brighter and brighter until it hurt her eyes. 'What's happening?' she thought as she closed her eyes.

After a couple seconds, there was a little pop noise that startled her and caused her to open her eyes. Her toy had stopped glowing, she saw, but she was no longer in her backyard under her favorite tree. Instead, she was sitting on a swing in a stranger's backyard.

"Oh I hate my brothers! They've done some magic one me! That's not fair! I can't wait till I go to Hogwarts and can do magic on them." Ginny was furious. Mum would be so mad that she went into someone's yard. And it was all they boys' fault. Ginny spent the next few minutes hating her brothers in her mind.

Her mental rant was cut short when she heard people coming towards her. Before she could react, they came around the big tree that blocked her from their view. The three boys looked at her for a few seconds until one of them ran up to her and said excitedly, "Hey Siri, Harry! She has the same necklace that you had on yesterday Harry! Do you think the same thing happened to her? Should we go show her to Mum?"

The other to boys came up to her as well. The one that looked the smallest said, "Hi. I'm Harry and this is Sirius and James. I have a necklace just like yours."

"Oh, well where is it? Does it have the pretty sand too?" Ginny inquired, coming closer to the boys.

"Our Dad has it. We think it's magic and that Harry came back in time. So yours is probably the same. Did you come back in time too?" Sirius stated matter-of-factly.

"Maybe. I dunno. I just wanted to get away from my brothers."Ginny started ranting in her mind once again, having been reminded of them.

James walked around her and went to sit on one of the other swings. "So what's your name anyway? How old are you? Do you want to play tag with us?" he said in a rush of excitement at having another person to play with.

"My name's Ginny and I'm four!" she said excitedly. Her birthday was just a couple days ago actually, September 8th. She remembered because her Mum baked her a great cake that the twins had magicked to explode in her face when she blew out the candles. Ginny giggled when she thought of how much trouble they had been in with Mum. Nevertheless she was still mad that they had ruined the cake. She had really wanted to eat it.

Sirius sighed with impatience when she didn't answer James's most important question. "Well do you want to play tag or not?"

"Oh I definitely want to play!" she replied excitedly. Her brothers had never invited her to play tag with them. These boys would be her new brothers. They had already invited her to play tag with them and they hadn't made fun of her freckles or anything.

So they ran around and played tag never once tiring. They only noticed that they were hungry when Diane called out to them to come into lunch.

The boys began to run into the house when they noticed that Ginny wasn't with them.

Harry told the boys to stay there for a second and then ran back to Ginny. He grabbed her hand and tugged her along towards the house. "I know how you feel Ginny. But Siri's and Jamie's and my

Mum will love you just as much as she loves us. If you want she can probably be your new mum too like she's mine and Siri's. And Dad can be your new dad too!" Harry said excitedly, but then added, "Well, if you want."

They had reached James and Sirius by the time Harry finished his little speech so James and Sirius added together, "Yea, they'll love you like we do! You can be our new sister!"

"Okay, that sounds nice," she replied with a smile. But inside she was sad. What about her own Mum? And her own Dad? Would she ever be able to go back to them? And what had James and Sirius and Harry said about time travel? Was her new pretty necklace the reason she was here? Would the boys's parents be able to explain everything to her? She hoped so. It seemed as if the same thing had happened to Harry. 'Yea that's it,' she thought to herself. ' They told him everything and that's why hes staying. Maybe I'll stay if I cant ever go home. But if I can then I will.'

--

p.s. Ginny doesnt know who Harry Potter is yet thats why she doesnt recognize him or his James.


	4. Crossroad: Please Read

AN: Sorry I know I hate these too, but please read it if you care if I actually finish and keep going with this story line.

So to my loved readers, I am currently at a cross roads regarding which way I should take my story. Since I can't decide I would like you guys to deicde for me out of the two ways. So just leave a little review if you could and tell me which one you want and the one with the most will be the winner of course. I'll try to wait a few days but this has really been bugging me so if there's only one or two reviews then I guess that person gets it lol.

Here they are:

Option one: Harry and Ginny grow up with the Potters, go to Hogwarts and don't go back to their actual time. They live through the first war and the second. (Sorry, I dont wan't to go into too much detail in case you guys choose this one so that's all you get for now.)

Option two: Harry and Ginny eventually go back to their own time, but before they turn eleven. Thus they live their lives with the Potters' influence.

So tell me which one you want people, it could go either way right now.

Hopefully you people actually read this.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four:

OK so I know its been like a million years since I've last done anything to this story and I'm really sorry to those people that read this when I first wrote it and everything and have been all annoyed with me. :( I do have a live though and being in an art program isn't easy. But to all the new people, well I guess you're really lucky.

So thanks to all the people who voted and everything and I guess if you really wanted you could figure it out which was the winner, but if you don't really feel like going through all the review and counting them then I guess you'll just have to keep reading :) but upon reading this chapter you'll be able to see that I did a little bit of editing to the options because I'm the author and I can. So ha.

Alright enough of my rambling, here's the new chapter of the story.

* * *

That night after Mrs. Potter had tucked her in and left her to sleep in what was supposed to be her new room, Ginny thought of all that had happened to her that day. Just this morning she had been at the Burrow fighting with her brothers. Now here she was apparently in the past, sleeping in a bedroom far bigger than the one at the Burrow. Honestly Ginny was having a hard time understanding it all.

Despite all these thoughts swirling around inside her head, Ginny felt an overwhelming sense of loss. Even though they were the reason she was in the past, Ginny missed her family immensely. Even in her four year old mind she was able to understand that she would never trade her family for another one and that she wanted to go home right away.

She took the necklace that Mr. Potter had explained to her was a Time-Turner out from beneath her pajamas and looked at it curiously. She wondered if she began turning it again like she had before that she would be able to go home. All she knew was that she wanted to go home to be with her own Mummy and Daddy. So she began to turn the knobs in earnest all the while thinking about her brothers and how she loved them even though they teased her and made her cry. She thought about her Mummy and Daddy too and how she knew they loved her and thought she was special.

Ginny was eventually lost in her thoughts, but didn't fail to notice that slowly the Time-Tuner was beginning to glow like last time. She got excited and closed her eyes waiting for it to take her home.

She waited until it seemed like it wasn't going to do anything, but just when she opened her eyes she was already back in the Burrow's backyard where she had been when she found the necklace. Immediately Ginny was confused. Hadn't she just spent a whole day with the Potters? She had been in her pajamas that Mrs. Potter had given her. Now she was in the green dress she had been wearing.

Suddenly everything felt like a dream to her. She stood up and brushed off the back and front of her dress, noticing as she did so that she was no longer wearing the necklace.

'Did I just dream about all that then?' Ginny thought to herself as she looked around the tree for the Time-Turner. 'It must have been. It was a good dream though. That lady was so nice to me in it. And so was that boy that held my hand when I walked inside that big house. He had pretty green eyes. It's too bad I woke up.'

Ginny stood up and walked back to the Burrow. As she walked, she was excited to see her Mummy again as she missed her. She also wanted to play dolls with her today while her brothers were outside. So, Ginny began to run back inside to see her family again. She was so glad that she came home again. She loved all her brothers so much. They were the best. Maybe they would play with her today, but if they didn't, that was okay. She would play dolls with Mummy again. That was fine with her.

And so Ginny was left with an impression from then on from what she thought was a dream. She would always love her family and realize that even though she didn't like them sometimes, she would always love them, even when Fred and George would eventually charm her food into dirt exactly when she put her fork in her mouth.

* * *

With the Potters

Harry woke up the next day excited to play with his new brothers and his new sister. He still couldn't believe what had happened to him just two days ago. He was so excited that he was going to be adopted by the Potters. His new dad had said that he would get the papers finalized today and he would officially be their son. He couldn't believe it.

In Harry's excitement he threw off his blankets and ran down the hallway and down the stairs into the kitchen where he could hear Mum singing along to the radio as she made breakfast.

She turned around and smiled at him as soon as she heard him running into the kitchen.

"Harry," she cried putting her arms out so she could pick him up. When she had him perched on her hip, she gave him a wooden spoon and said, "Do you want to stir the batter?"

Harry smiled and nodded yes and eagerly began mixing the pancake batter in the bowl she was holding with her other arm.

Diane watched her little boy mix the concoction of ingredients with a smile on her face. Already she loved him with all her heart. She knew that he needed her and her husband to be the parents that he never had. He needed a family that would care for him a give him a home that loved him. She and her husband, and he boys would do that for him just as they had done it for Sirius the year before.

What concerned her however what that she was able to carry Harry with much more ease than with James or Sirius. He was noticeably lighter and smaller. He looked more like he was four than five. She wondered whether he had gotten enough food with whoever he was staying with before or whether just was in between growth spurts. She thought about all this while watching him happily stir and eventually resolved to take him to the family doctor tomorrow to have a check up.

'Come to think of it,' she thought to herself, ' James and Sirius need one as well after their recent bout of dragon pox. I'll just take them all together so harry doesn't feel nervous.'

She leaned over to kiss Harry on the cheek, and said, "OK Harry its all stirred up. Thanks honey."

"Your welcome Mummy," he smiled at her.

"Why don't you go wake up James and Sirius and Ginny and I'll finish making these pancakes for you," Diane said as she put Harry down. "How does that sound?"

"Great! Ill go get them," he yelled back at her excitedly as he ran away to get his brothers and sister.

She smiled to herself and turned back around, busying herself with breakfast.

–

Harry was all smiles as he raced back up the stairs toward Sirius's room. When he opened the door to his room, he crept inside when he saw Sirius was still asleep. He slowly walked towards his bed with a sly little grin on his face. When he was at the head of the bed, he slowly took a great deep breath and yelled, "PADFOOT WAKE UP!"

While he had been planning this little maneuver, he expected Sirius to react by sitting straight up and screaming. What actually happened was completely different to Harry's complete surprise.

While Sirius did scream in fright, he did not stop screaming when he saw it was only Harry. He continued to scream while he stood up on his bed and ran across the hall into James room who promptly woke up exactly the same way.

So Harry was left staring in shock as the two boys ran up and down the hall between their bed rooms screaming their lungs out. After a while Harry shrugged and joined them.

So when Diane reached the landing at the top of the stairs and saw what was going on she simple chuckled and went back down to the kitchen but not before saying, "Make sure you wake up Ginny to dears."

The screaming and running went on for a little while longer till the boys couldn't contain their laughter anymore and started giggling more than screaming.

When they had settled down James turned to Sirius and said, "Good one Padfoot. That was fun."

Sirius simply grinned smugly and said, "Glad you joined us Harry. It was more fun trying not to run into you and Prongs instead of just Prongsie."

"Yea that was fun." Harry said, still laughing a little. "Let's go wake up Ginny now though. I'm getting hungry and Mum's making pancakes for us."

When Harry said this they all looked at each other and grinned again. In unison they all took a deep breath and began screaming together as they ran into Ginny's room.

Their playful screams were cut short as soon as they saw that Ginny was not in her bed sleeping as she should have been. In her place was slightly rumpled sheets and the pajamas that she was wearing. On top of all this was the Time-Turner by which she had arrived in their backyard.

"MUM!" they all shouted in unison again while turning and running down the stairs trying not to fall.

"Mum, Ginny's not in her room! She's gone!" Sirius exclaimed when they got in the kitchen.

Diane paled and hurried up to Ginny's room to find what her boys were saying was true. The little girl that had shown up the same way Harry had yesterday was gone. She was simply not in her bed anymore. It didn't look like she had gotten out of bed and left or someone had taken her as the sheets and pajamas were positioned as if she had simply vanished. She saw the Time-Turner was also laying on top of the little girl's pajamas. Taking a closer look, she noticed that the sand that had been in the hourglass previously was missing. It hadn't been broken or anything, so Diane could think of no other reason for its being empty besides it had disappeared by magic as well. 'I did notice that Ginny looked a little sad at dinner. I'm sure she missed her family and tried to use the Time-Turner to go home. I'm sure that's what happened.'

Diane admittedly was a little sad at this. She had always wanted a little girl to cherish and love. She had finally gotten one with Ginny, but she understood that the Ginny needed her own parents and siblings instead of a new family.

Diane picked up the pajamas underneath the blankets and remade the bed. She turned around and saw that her boys were standing in the doorway looking at her with curious and worried expressions on their faces.

"Where is she," said Harry, his concern for Ginny coming out plainly.

"Let's go back into the kitchen and have breakfast and I'll tell you boys what happened."

As they sat down in their chairs and began eating the pancakes with copious amounts of maple syrup and strawberries, Diane spoke, "Ginny went home last night boys. That's why she's gone and wasn't in her bed last night. She must have used the Time-Turner again because she missed her family back home."

She continued speaking when she saw their sad and dejected faces looking up at her. "Don't be sad boys. I could tell last night that Ginny was sad and missed her family. This doesn't mean that she liked us any less. She just wanted to go home. Wouldn't you boys miss each other if the same thing happened to you."

She smiled when they all nodded to each other and her. "Good. Now make sure you boys eat all that up. I don't want to boys to get too tired from playing and making mischief today because were going to the doctor tomorrow for a check for all three of you." She smiled when she heard James and Sirius groan and looked at Harry who hadn't said anything.

"Have you ever been to the doctor Harry?" she asked him with a smile.

"Um no. But I have been to the school nurse before. She always gave me band-aids when I got cuts or something." Harry replied nervously. "What do I have to go to the doctor for? I'm not hurt or anything."

"Oh I know silly. I just want to make sure you're healthy. The doctor will give you some potions to keep you from getting sick. It won't scary or anything and I will be there with you the whole time and so will James and Sirius." Diane replied with a smile at his apprehension and James and Sirius nodded at her words.

Harry looked at them all one more time a little nervously, but finally said, "OK, I guess if you say so."

After this the day went by pretty quickly. The boys went outside to the playground and began swinging and falling with magic again. They played tag and pirates and bad guys and good guys.

When Harry finally went in for lunch he was surprised to see that in the dining there were some little books set on the table where they were going to eat.

When he sat down at his seat he looked at James and asked what they were for.

"Oh yea,after lunch Mum teaches us our letters and how to read and how to read. She also teaches us different stuff too but its always different," he replied to Harry before taking a bite of his turkey sand which.

Harry was excited to learn his letters and how to write his name and how to read. At his old school he would always get in trouble if the teacher liked him better than Dudley so he was always quiet and didn't participate in class. But here he didn't have to worry about that. He could be as smart as he wanted and they wouldn't care. He loved his new family.

When the boys were finished eating they all eagerly waited for their Mum to tell them what they were learning that day.

"OK, so since Harry has never learned his letters before, but you boys have already gotten to J, were going to start with learning the days of the week. Do any of you know what day of the week it is?" She asked them.

The boys took turns shaking their head at her at which point she said, "Today is Monday. Yesterday was Sunday. Sunday is the beginning of the week. The order of the days go, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Do you boys want to repeat that?"

They all were quick to try to repeat what their mother had said but the farthest they got was Mondnesday which they mistook for Tuesday. Diane laughed at their butchered attempt and helped them though it until they could all say it by themselves.

"OK so that means that since today is Monday that umm tomorrow is umm Tuesday?" Harry asked.

"Yes Harry very good, I was just going to ask that," Diane smiled at him. He was catching on quickly. She suspected that he never really participated very much in school, but she knew that with her teaching him with James and Sirius beside him he would learn quickly that school was fun and easy.

She only hoped that their trip to the doctor be equally as painless.

* * *

Thanks guys for sticking with this. I really am sorry it took me so long to update. Please review, it means a lot to me :)


	6. Chapter 6

So I didn't die, just very busy. Heres the new chapter, thanks to everyone who reviewed. :)

* * *

Diane was about ready to pull her hair out. Needless to say, the trip to the doctor so far was a nightmare. This morning when she had woken the boys up, they had been stubborn and as mad as five years olds could be. Getting them dressed was even worse considering the tantrum James and Sirius threw when they knew they would be leaving after they got dressed. Harry was the worse of them. He just sat there looking petrified every time someone mentioned the doctor. Diane was getting more and more outraged at the apparent lack of care that he must have received when he was with his previous guardians. After much difficulty, Diane was finally able to pull the three little monsters into the fire place to floo to Dr. Thompson's office.

So there they waited in the reception area. Harry was in Diane's lap with his face pressed against her neck while James and Sirius ran amok in the little children's area. She couldn't wait for the doctor to call her name so they could get this over with. 'Hopefully there's not too much wrong with Harry' Diane thought to herself out of concern for Harry and wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Diane Potter?"

'Oh thank God.' "Okay boys, time to follow the nice lady to see Dr. Thompson," Diane called to them.

James and Sirius ignored her for a second until she threatened to take away the treat she had promised them for being on their best behavior. At this, they quickly stood up and ran to her side.

They followed the nurse to the room they would be seeing the doctor in and sat down. "Dr. Thompson will be just a moment," said the nurse as she walked out of the room.

Harry pulled his head out of the crook of her neck and said quietly, "Mummy, you won't take away my treat right? I've been good right?"

"Yes, Harry. You've been a very good little boy today; better than James and Sirius even," Diane whispered conspiratorially. "You'll be good for a little while longer, won't you? The doctor is very nice and he won't hurt you. I promise."

Harry looked at her searchingly for a minute. She could tell he was worried that the doctor would be mean like he had told her the school nurse had been to him the few times he had been to her. Eventually he said, "Okay Mummy."

Just then the doctor came into the room. Diane gave Harry a kiss on the forehead and set him down in one of the chairs.

"Hello, Dr. Thompson. Thank you for seeing us in such short notice. I was just wondering if you could do a little check up on my three boys here. James and Sirius you know just had the dragon pox, and my husband and I just adopted Harry here a few days ago and we wanted to make sure he was healthy," Diane explained as she shook the doctor's hand.

"Well certainly my dear. I remember giving you your after pox check-up when you were this little too," replied Dr. Thompson with a smile.

"What?" cried James. "You were Mummy's doctor when she was little too? How old are you?"

The doctor laughed and said, "Quite old young man. Now would you mind sitting up on the bed for a minute? I'll do you first."

Now quite relaxed with the doctor James jumped up onto the examining table and sat still while the doctor waved his wand all around him. Not to be outdone, Sirius did quite the same thing while the doctor examined him next.

Next it was Harry's turn. Diane knew the doctor could tell that Harry was scared of him.

"Harry? Do you think you could sit up where James and Sirius are? They can stay up there with you if you want," Dr. Thompson asked kindly. He was the perfect man to be a pediatrician. He had kind blue eyes that only held laughter and sweetness. His fluffy white beard slightly puffed outward when he spoke, which , according to James and Sirius, was hilarious. So Diane was not surprised in the slightest when Harry smiled slightly and did indeed sit on the table with his brothers.

The doctor's examination of Harry took much longer than the other boys' considering the additional amount of spells the man had to cast. He had only been checking for things that might have been affected from the dragon pox on James and Sirius. On Harry, he needed to do check everything.

At long last he was finished. At this point, he smiled at the boys and said, "All done!" and pulled out three lollipops from his pocket. The boys cheered and took the candies. Diane herself knew they were vitamin lollipops that were charmed to taste like cherry. She had been fooled many a time by their delicious flavor when she came in for a check-up when she was a girl.

"Okay boys, go run on up ahead and play in the waiting room while I talk to the doctor," Diane called to the boys who were busily sucking away at their new treats.

When they were gone from the room she turned to the doctor with an inquisitive look.

"Diane…let me just start out by saying that Harry is extremely lucky to have been adopted by you at this stage in his growth. I seriously think that whoever he was living with before was not treating him right. I mean, his size alone is enough to say something's not right. You can see the difference between him and his brothers. He is malnourished due to, I can only suspect, a lack of food. His organs and bones are underdeveloped compared to how they should be at his age." Diane was staring in horror at the doctor throughout this little speech, unaware the he was going to continue.

"Mrs. Potter, you need not look at me that way. Harry's condition is completely reversible with a healthy diet and some additional potions that I will prescribe you with today. I know that he will have an active lifestyle judging from past visits from James and Sirius. This is exactly what he needs. You don't need to worry about him except for making sure he has a good diet and takes the correct potions," the doctor assured her.

Immensely relieved, she replied, "Well, I am glad that we came to see you. Thank you so much for your help, Dr. Thompson. You're still as great as you when I came to see you with my mother."

The doctor smiled at her and escorted her out into the waiting room where her boys were terrorizing the receptionist. As she calmed her children down, he explained to the nurse what kind of potions Diane would need. Diane waited impatiently for the nurse to bring out the potions. 'I can't wait to get home,' Diane thought. 'The boys are going to take a nap and I think so will I.'

* * *

Two months had passed since they had taken the first trip to the doctor. Because of the potions Harry had been taking and a normal diet, Harry had begun to look like a five year old boy. He had gained some weight and his skin wasn't pasty pale anymore. Diane could see that Harry was going to grow into a wonderful, healthy, and happy boy.

He was even now an official part of their family. The day they went to the doctor, Thomas went to see one of his friends in the adoption agency and had Harry made a Potter. Diane was so happy with the way things were going. She had three wonderful energetic boys who always surprised her with new antics each day. She hoped they would turn out like her husband. Warm and caring men who loved their family and would do anything for them. She had always wanted a little girl to call her own as well. She thought Ginny would be able to fulfill that dream of hers, but as she saw Ginny's sad face at dinner that night, she knew it wasn't to be. Diane hoped that Ginny was with her family, safe and warm and happy.

She knew that her own boys would be ecstatic to hear the news that she was pregnant. They had immediately taken to Ginny so she knew they would do the same for the baby girl that Diane was carrying right now. They would be her protectors; someone to go to when she needed help when Diane or Thomas weren't around. They would be the people that she could talk to when she felt she couldn't talk to her parents.

This baby would be her last, she knew. Her family would be complete after their girl was born. They would be so happy. But Diane knew her boys would get into some mischief over the years to come. She just couldn't predict when it would happen; no one could.


End file.
